The beginning of the end for ICL?

Let's face it, ICL hasn't delivered for the Japanese giant. And Fujitsu, facing the same economic downturn as the rest of the industry, can't afford that. It has to act.

At the same time, Fujitsu's other large and (relatively) independent subsidiary, Amdahl, is struggling. Both Amdahl in the US and ICL in the UK (it was only last year it dropped its claims to 'global player' status) have attempted to go from box shifting to fat-margin services.

Fujitsu's idea is to deliver the services of both these organisations under a new global brand called Infracare.

A fine idea, if this means Fujitsu finally delivers a consistent services policy across the world. Its global customers will breathe a sigh of relief. Fujitsu as a whole is already well placed in the services sector boasting $18bn a year in revenues.

However, for ICL the move will undoubtedly be interpreted as a failure. The fact that IT services will no longer be ICL-branded (even if it is ICL staff who are delivering them) shows it has been unable to realise its 'ebusiness services' potential.

And without services, what does ICL have? Well it has a large amount of revenue from hardware and software licensing, but very little that offers long-term profitability. Where does that leave its prospects for survival?

If it sounds outrageous to suggest the end of ICL, think how far we've come, and how quickly things have changed. This time last year ICL was under the stewardship of Keith Todd and was on course for a successful IPO. Now, after plenty of shop floor and boardroom bloodletting, all that seems like ancient (corporate) history.

While for Fujitsu, and indeed its customers, the Infracare initiative may be a good thing, for this venerable old UK IT institution it really is the beginning of the end.